Dudley-Shotwell, Hannah

OUR SYNOPSIS: Hannah Dudley-Shotwell explores how a feminist self-help movement centered on women’s health emerged in the United States from the 1960s to the 1990s. She argues that “Self-help activists helped to revolutionize women’s healthcare by creating an entire system of alternative healthcare options.” By both cooperating with and rebelling against mainstream medicine, they encouraged women to take and assert control over their own bodies. By sharing information, establishing clinics, forming investigative groups, and more, women created their own personalized health landscapes. This included gathering into groups based on race or other factors that contributed to collective identities and shared understandings. Feminist self-help started with gynecology and from the start prioritized women gaining knowledge about their own bodies. The evolved into the creation of feminist clinics that fostered empowering women’s healthcare experiences. However, conflicts and discrimination related to race and class limited the inclusiveness of these institutions. In addition to creating their own clinics, activists also monitored the conditions of women’s care at mainstream medical facilities and raised alarm when deemed necessary. Women of color and Indigenous women developed holistic health initiatives that considered all aspects of a woman’s health to best address the systemic inequities they faced.